A woman has detailed how her attempt to dye her hair went horribly wrong as she suffered a horrific allergic reaction that left her looking like an "emoji" as her entire head ballooned. Not only did it do that, but Shanika McNeil also claims that the incident left her unable to see for days.
After dying her hair back with her usual product, she initially woke up the following morning before things started to escalate to a headache and her forehead began to swell. The next few hours saw Shanika, from Houston, Texas, US, clearly suffering an allergic reaction as a rash broke out on her forehead, her scalp began to "burn", and her face she continued to swell by the hour.
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Whilst the 29-year-old joked that her swollen head made her look like an 'emoji', the situation quickly worsened when doctors warned that the swelling could potentially suffocate her by travelling to her throat.
Unfortunately, no quick fix could solve this nightmare as Shanika explained that it took two rounds of antihistamines and almost two weeks before the swelling completely subsided.
Not to mention, she claims that the incident in January left her unable to see for three of these days due to the puffiness of her eyes - almost appearing that she had "lost a fight".
The tech coordinator, who has been left with "bald patches" from the severe reaction, is now urging people to patch test every time they use a dye even if they have used it before with no issues.
She believes that the reaction was caused by paraphenylenediamine (PPD) - a chemical commonly found in black henna and dark hair dyes.
Shanika explained that when she initially dyed her hair by herself on a Sunday evening, she felt "fine" and "had no issues" - but symptoms quickly came on the following morning.
She recalled: "I woke up and I had a headache - it lasted all day and then probably around 3pm I noticed I had this line around my forehead and a rash.
"Then immediately all the symptoms started at once - my scalp started burning like it was on fire and then I used a napkin and could tell my scalp was oozing.
"I went home and made a doctor's appointment for the next day. As the hours went by I noticed my forehead was getting puffier."
The following morning and after a trip to the doctor's office, the professional confirmed that the allergic reaction was indeed caused by the chemical ingredient.
Fortunately, Shanika said that thanks to the medication, she wasn't suffering any more pain and the doctor's prescription of antihistamines and steroids helped with the swelling - but it didn't help with everything.
She said: "Every hour I looked at myself and my forehead was getting bigger and the swelling was worse. I was laughing at myself because I did look extremely funny.
"It looked like I was an emoji, it was very weird. My whole family was panicking because I looked so strange. A lot of people said I looked like I was in a fight.
"I just thought it was funny but after a few days when the pain kicked in it wasn't funny anymore - my eyes were completely swollen shut so I couldn't see for a few days."
Shanika claims the severe allergic reaction has left her with bald spots, eczema and a scalp so sensitive that it hurts to brush her hair, despite never having any of these problems previously.
She now believes that she missed earlier signs that she was allergic to the dye as she had been suffering from scalp sensitivity over the previous year.
She claims she did not make the link between the two as it didn't happen for over a week after she used the product each time.
Shanika now hopes to warn others to patch test every time they use dye to avoid suffering an extreme reaction like she did.
She added: "I haven't dyed my hair since and I don't have any intentions of doing it - I'm so scared to put any type of chemical on my scalp.
"A lot of people in the comments said the same thing happened to them - they'd been using a dye for years and then had a reaction.
"I've told people to do a patch test every time they use it [dye] and if you are sensitive to it, look for a dye that doesn't have PPD in it."
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